


Project 279

by The_Problematic_Blender



Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter/Funhaus RPF
Genre: Dark, Experimentation, Human Experimentation, Medical Experimentation, Science Experiments
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-11
Updated: 2018-01-12
Packaged: 2018-10-17 17:24:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 4,494
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10598673
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Problematic_Blender/pseuds/The_Problematic_Blender
Summary: There are rumors and whispers of experiments done on humans, inhumane tests on the mind and body. You may have heard of one called The Russian Sleep Experiment, codenamed Orange Soda. While most of these whispers are nothing more than fictitious tales to scare the reader, there is one experiment that was found to be true.These are the files and recollections of an experiment only referred to as Project 279.





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> "Another series that will most likely be unfinished, Blender?" I hear you asking. I know, I know, I'm terrible.

The door slides open with a futuristic _shwish,_ a man wearing a lab coat and glasses appearing on the other side, though it wasn't something shockingly different, all the researchers here looked the same. This one, though, was the head of research. "Why are subjects A-005 and A-008 in here?" He asks before sipping from his mug.

"They both are exhibiting symptoms along insomnia, along with A-003." The woman that was with them said. She was dressed in a similar fashion as the man that just entered.

"Where is A-003 now?" The head researcher asked.

"He became aggressive when we tried to approach any of them. We removed him from the room for everyone's safety."

"I see." He says. A-008 is trained on him, expression neutral. A-005 holds a similar expression, but opts for staring off into the distance. "Do we know the causes?"

"An MRI shows that A-005's brain is functioning abnormally, and with a combination of other symptoms we have observed since retrieval, our best guess is that A-005 suffers from functional neurological disorder."

"And A-008?" He takes another drink from his mug, and A-008's eyes narrow the tiniest bit.

"Uh, sir? What is that?"

"Coffee." He answers.

"Sir, there's not supposed to be any caffeinated beverages around A-008-"

"And why is that?" The head researcher turns to the woman.

"Because he's been shown to be highly volatile around those with caffeine, specifically coffee, sir. I'd highly advise that you'd move to another group for the time being."

The head researcher turns to A-008. "He seems fine."

"Sir, please move away from A-008."

"I do not take orders from you, Jezebel!" The head researcher snapped. His words were like a catalyst, snapping A-008 into action. He lunged off the operating table he sat on and onto the researcher. While A-008 was rather thin, he was able to knock the researcher onto the ground, spilling coffee onto both of them. Before A-008 could do anything, the female researcher hit a button on a keychain attached to her lanyard, and that button made the metal collar around A-008's neck beep twice before it gave off a controlled shock. It only lasted a few seconds, but it was enough to get A-008 to cease his actions.

The head researcher scrambled to his feet, ugly splotches of brown now staining his once immaculate lab coat. He looked down at A-008. A-008 grinned in victory, keeping eye contact with the head researcher as he licked up the coffee that was trailing down his arm.

"You're a fucking animal." The head researcher spat.

"All men are enemies. All animals are comrades." A-008 replied. A quote from Animal Farm.

"He wasn't supposed to have caffeine-"

"I want A-008 in the Boiler. Three hours." He interrupts the female researcher. A-008's expression turns into a brief look of fear before regaining proud defiance.

"Sir, three hours is-"

"I said three hours!" He exclaims. The woman sighs, moving her hand to a different keychain and hitting that button. In mere moments, two guards arrive, dressed in all white. "Take A-008 to the Boiler."

"Trevor!" A-005 cries out, his once spaced out look turning into one of fear once A-008 attacked the head researcher.

"I'll be okay, Gav." A-008 promises as the guards grab him by his arms and haul him to his feet.


	2. Introduction

Project 279 was a project privately funded by a freelance company called Gearnoble Industries. The project's driving question was "What factors will cause a fracture in a small community?"

The small community needed to consist of friends that socialize on a regular basis, often together, and finding willing volunteers for a project that could ultimately destroy their friendships would prove to be impossible. This impossibility prompted the researchers behind Project 279 to take its first illegal course of action; kidnapping.

While it was a risky move, Project 279 set it's sights on Achievement Hunter, a YouTube company based in Austin, Texas. Achievement Hunter made videos on video games, playing them with comedic commentary and earning YouTube fame because of it. They all seemed more like a bunch of teenagers goofing off with friends than coworkers. Kidnapping famous people could bring a quick end to the experiment.

Somehow, those behind Project 279 managed to kidnap ten members of Achievement Hunter; Geoff Ramsey, Jack Pattillo, James "Ryan" Haywood, Michael Jones, Gavin Free, Jeremy Dooley, Matthew Bragg, Trevor Collins, Lindsay Jones, and Mica Burton. The Achievement Hunter employees went missing on April 17th, 2017, and they were not seen for months until Burton was found walking down a country road in Wyoming, seeking help for the others.

On June 22nd, 2017, the underground facility where Project 279 was taking place was raided by police officers and national guard. The police managed to recover every Achievement Hunter employee alive and apprehend most of the researchers involved. Gearnoble Industries is being investigated at the time of publishing for their involvement in Project 279.

The police recovered files and reports from Project 279, and those files are finally being released to the general public through us. Along with the files, we were given the go ahead to release our interviews with the Achievement Hunter employees.

Project 279 was an illegal experiment that infringed on human rights. While the Achievement Hunter employees made it out alive, they by no means made it out unharmed. I'd advise all those reading to read with caution, and to not be afraid to skip over parts of the information if necessary.


	3. File 0002 - Accommodations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A recovered file from Project 279, outlining the living quarters of the Achievement Hunters, referred to as "the Community" throughout the file.

The Community will be kept in a medium sized room with dimensions of 20 ft x 10 ft. The room is subterranean to the main floor of the lab, giving easy access to viewing the Community through the two way mirror that is on the upper half of the walls. There are identical mirrors on every side of the wall, so there would be no way to tell as to how the researchers are viewing them or what mirrors are being used for observation, if not all of them. Microphones are implanted throughout the room and are out of sight.

To access the room, there is an elevator that only goes to the Community’s room and to Processing. There are no exterior buttons to the elevator in the room, as to ensure no members of the Community use it without authorization. The elevator can be controlled remotely from Observation, or manually in Processing.

There are five twin XL bunk beds, three to the left of the elevator, and two to the right. They run along the length of the room, going end to end without any significant space between them. The bunk beds will have white sheets made of cotton, and have one (1) pillow in a white, cotton pillowcase. There is also a door on the right side of the room, and it opens up to a small bathroom with a toilet and a sink. Showers are located in Processing.

The Community will have strict clothing guidelines during the study. The male members will be assigned a tank top, sweatpants, socks, and briefs. The female members will be assigned a tank top, sweatpants, socks, briefs, and an athletic bra. All clothing will be colored white and have a blend of polyester and cotton. The identification code is on a patch that is sewn onto the front of the tank top. Clothes that don’t follow the guidelines are not to be given to anyone in the Community. The Correctional Collars, or CC, will be worn by the Community members at all times. The original clothes of the Community are to be discarded appropriately during Processing.


	4. Mirrors

_**M. Jones:** I don’t know how the hell I didn’t kill Jeremy in the first week._

_**Interviewer:** What do you mean by that?_

_**Jones:** He was just being such an annoying prick to piss off the scientists, and he wanted to know as much as he could about that fucking room in case they tried to fuck with the room. God, the fucking mirrors, god_ forbid _he leave the fucking mirrors alone._

* * *

****

“Hey, quick question.” Jeremy says, breaking the silence. He’s standing up on his bunk that was in the corner of the room, hands on the mirrors on either wall. “How can I tell if a mirror is a two way mirror or not?”

“We already know that the mirrors are two way.” Michael snaps from where he was sitting on the floor, legs crossed as he picked at the hem of his tank top, fingers searching for a hole to widen or a string to pull, something to keep him busy. “How else would they be watching us?”

“Yeah, but completely surrounding the room?” Jeremy asks. “That seems like overkill.”

“Jeremy, people _kidnapped us_ and we’re being used as a science experiment rather than being held for ransom or being sold on the black market.” Michael points out. “I think I can suspend my disbelief a little further and say that they’re watching us from every fucking side.” Jeremy frowns at Michael’s pessimism and returns back to the mirrors.

“Two way mirrors will have a different sound than regularly mirrors when you knock on them.” Ryan answers. “Regular mirrors will have a dull thud when you knock on them because they’re against a wall. Two way mirrors will reverberate because they’re set in the wall, like a window.”

“How do you know that, Ryan?” Jack asks. Ryan shrugs.

Before Jeremy can knock on either mirrored wall, the metal collar around his neck beeps twice, sounding like the quieter version of the noise your car makes when you lock it. Jeremy can’t even react before he’s shocked. It’s a brief one, lasting only a second, acting as a warning against knocking on the mirrors.

“Assholes!” Jeremy curses once he catches his breath.

“Fucking Christ.” Michael mutters to himself.

“You okay, Jeremy?” Geoff asks, voice lined with that parental worry Geoff can have at times.

“Yeah, I’m fine.”

“Okay, but just a suggestion,” Mica starts. “but how about we not do that again?”

Jeremy responds to that by knocking on the mirror to his right. A dull thud could be heard throughout the quiet room, immediately followed by _beep beep_ and the sounds of Jeremy being electrocuted for the second time.

“Jeremy, stop!” Matt yells. “For fucks sake, it’s not worth getting electrocuted over!”

But Jeremy had the blood of a stubborn Irishman, and he’d be damned to let this go. Jeremy knocks on the mirror to the left with him with a sudden force. It doesn’t give a dull thud, rather the sound of hitting plexiglass. Sure enough, the _beep beep_ follows it and Jeremy’s electrocuted once again.

“So the mirror above the elevator is a two way mirror.” Ryan says.

Jeremy, despite being electrocuted three times in the process of finding this out, gives a victorious middle finger to the middle of the two way mirror. “Two more to go, fuckers.”

“You’re not doing that again.” Geoff said, tone firm.

“What are you gonna do?” Jeremy asked. “Stop me?”

“They’re gonna come down here and fucking drag your ass off if you do it more.” Michael points out.

“To where, the Boiler?” Jeremy spat. “Well I see that as a win win then, because maybe then they’ll fucking bring Trevor back.”

* * *

_**Dooley:** No, they did not take me to the Boiler for that. I was really hoping though, but they just shocked me._

_**Interviewer:** How many times were you shocked?_

_**Dooley:** In total or for banging on the mirrors?_

_**Interviewer:** For banging on the mirrors._

_**Dooley:** I… fuck, I think I got shocked eight or nine times during that. My neck was numb for a while after that._

_**Interviewer:** Did you ever think about, well, not knocking on the mirrors?_

**_Dooley:_** _Yeah, but by doing that, we knew where their blind spot was. They only had one two way mirror, and that was on the wall with the elevator. If you were to hug the wall, they wouldn’t be able to see you._

_**Interviewer:** What importance did that hold? Didn’t you have a bathroom free of cameras?_

_**Dooley:** The bathroom was barely big enough for one person, let alone two. With the blind spot, we could pass items we stole between us without being caught._


	5. The Boiler

When questioned, none of the subjects gave a straight answer as to what the Boiler was. There was incoherent mumblings and vague comparisons, but no actual answer. It is obvious that the Boiler was some sort of punishment for when the subjects were being insubordinate, only used when no other sort of punishment is working. The average amount of time spent in the boiler was around thirty minutes, but Trevor Collins, referred to as A-008 throughout the experiment, was often subjected to the Boiler for hours at a time.

It is unknown why Collins spent the most time in there, especially when he wasn't as inflammatory and instigative as the others were. Collins claimed in an interview that he was targeted because the head of the experiment didn't like him. Some files we retrieved suggest that Collins was “someone that got under the head researcher’s skin very easily”, though there was nothing stated on how Trevor irritated the head of research.

Attached is a part of one of our interviews with Collins on the subject.

* * *

_Collins is seated at a metal table, the camera directly across from him. There are dark bags under Collins' eyes, made even more defined by his severely pale skin. He looks skinnier since the last time he was on camera. There's someone with him, but they remain out of view of the camera. Collins’ eyes are on the person, rather than the camera._

_**The Interviewer:** Trevor, can you tell us about the Boiler?_

_**Collins:** I... I rather not._

_**The Interviewer:** Why is that?_

_**Collins:** It's... it's just not a good place._

_**The Interviewer:** Can you describe what it was like in the Boiler?_

_There's a long silence before Collins responds._

_**Collins:** I can't really describe it other than it's hot and it's loud. I'm sorry._

_**The Interviewer:** That's alright. Are you aware that you were put in the Boiler the most out of the group?_

_**Collins:** I had a feeling, yeah._

_**The Interviewer:** Do you know why?_

_**Collins:** The guy in charge never liked me. He could tolerate Michael swearing and yelling for hours or Jeremy constantly trying to get him annoyed, but I always managed to hit a nerve with him in whatever I did._


	6. The Food

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I promised a chapter yesterday so here you fuckers go.

_Everyone is in a large room for this interview, sat on couches or in chairs, all facing the interviewer. Everyone looks ragged and tired, but being together seems to brighten everyone's mood._

_**Haywood:** The worst thing about the place, hands down, was the food._

_[There's an outburst of agreement from everyone else]_

_**Bragg:** The food was the most demoralizing thing there. Not the shock collars or anything, but the food._

_**M Jones:** Of course you fucking think that!_

* * *

"The fuck is this?" Matt asks, looking up to the person in white that just put down the metal tray in front of him. The person doesn't respond, they just put the other tray they had in front of Trevor.

There were two tables in the middle of an otherwise white and empty room. Each table only sat six people. There was a door near left corner of the room, where the trays of food had came from. There were cameras in the corners of the room, along with a few guards and a researcher loitering around the room.

"After a week of a liquid diet, we've been promoted to mash potatoes." Mica commented under her breath.

Gavin drops his spoon as he spits the food back out. "That is not-" He gags. "Not mash potatoes."

"You don't really expect us to eat this, do you?' Ryan asks, looking to the researcher. He doesn't even acknowledge Ryan or his question.

"I'm not eating this." Geoff says as Jack and Michael both pick at the slop they were served.

"It's like... soupy?" Michael says.

"Yeah, like it's melting or something." Jack adds on.

"You can't make me eat this!" Geoff yells to the researcher.

"A-001, if you won't eat the meal provided, I'm sure that the resident medical staff would be happy to find an alternate method to ensure you get the necessary nutrition." The researcher replied, not looking up from his tablet.

The disguised threat makes Geoff shut up. Michael tries some of the food and grimaces as he forces it down. "It's not great." Michael announces to everyone.

"I dunno, I kind of like it." Lindsay says with a shrug before she has her third bite of the stuff.

* * *

_**L Jones:** I did!_

_**Haywood:** How? It tasted like the color beige!_

_**Collins:** That wasn't even the worse part of it. The flavor, fine, whatever, but it was _ cold. _It was cold and it was like 30% liquid. And we ate that breakfast, lunch, and dinner._

_**Interviewer:** Sounds like a pretty boring meal plan._

_**Dooley:** Three weeks in and I would have murdered someone for a cheeseburger._

_[A few people in the group laugh at Dooley's statement]_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I will be gone from July 30th to August 18th, so if I don't post another chapter before the 30th, rest assured, I'm at camp.


	7. File 0016 - Community Diet

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A recovered file on the food served to the Achievement Hunters

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Someone reminded me that this exists, so here is what I wrote for my warm-up today. I have another chapter in the works as of posting this.

**File 0016 - Community Diet**  
**Level 1 Classification**

Upon the first week of research, the Community was put on a liquid diet. This was done to clear the Community Members’ digestive systems of outside contaminants, as well as to avoid triggering an allergic reaction until the medical officers tested the Community for possible allergies. The liquid diet included liquids such as gelatin, apple juice, tea, and various broths. Caffeinated liquids, such as coffee and soft drinks, were not given to the Community. Sugary beverages were avoided as well for similar reasons.

After the first week, for the duration of the experiment, the Community’s diet would consist of gruel, made specially to fulfill the daily nutritional requirements. The gruel was made of rye flour cereal that was boiled in a milk and water solution, supplemental powders being mixed into the cereal as it boiled. 

A Community Member would only deviate from this diet under the certain circumstances:

  * The Member refuses to eat a meal.
  * The Member will be subjected to testing in the near future, medical or otherwise, or is in recovery from testing, medical or otherwise.
  * A deviation in diet is required for experimentation.



**Addendum 0016-1:** Community Member A-005 has trouble keeping down the gruel on a daily basis. A medical officer has found that blending the gruel into more of a liquid in a blender and serving it to A-005 in a straw makes it more likely that A-005 will keep it down, though vomiting still commonly occurs. Medical officers will discuss further to determine a better solution to the problem.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Full disclosure: I’ve never heard of SCP before making this, and boy, I _love it._


	8. Handlers

_**Interviewer:** We found many references to people called handlers, but we haven’t found anything on them. Who were the handlers?_

_**Collins:** Handlers were researchers that… they were basically responsible for us._

_**Interviewer:** What did handlers do?_

_**Collins:** They were like our chaperone. They had two little keychains with buttons on them; one would shock us, the other would call the guards into the room. They were in charge of managing our behavior and, well, knowing everything about us._

_**Interviewer:** Did you all have different handlers?_

_**Collins:** Yeah, but sometimes we would be in pairs with one, probably because one of the handlers were sick or something._

_**Interviewer:** Can you tell me about your handler?_

_**Collins:** Yeah, she was fucking crazy._

_**Interviewer:** How so?_

_**Collins:** She stood up for me._

* * *

Trevor pants as he runs on the treadmill, being careful not to disconnect the electrodes on him. Doing it on purpose once was more than enough. His lungs burn from the exercising, his side flaring up with pain. He doesn’t know how long he’s been running, but it’s been much longer than what he was used to. He hated the physical tests.

“Can I,” Trevor’s words are interrupted by his shallow breathing. “stop?” Another breath. “Please?” He gets no response; the room is empty, all the researches hiding in an adjacent room, watching Trevor through a two way mirror. “Please?” Trevor repeats. “I can’t, breathe.”

The intercom clicks on. _“You must continue running until we have collected all the data we need.”_ A man’s voice informs him. Before the intercom clicks off, someone in the background begins to speak, but Trevor doesn’t catch it.

Trevor is going to collapse if he has to run for much longer. He’s covered in sweat, his damp hair falling in his face, refusing to stay out of the way. The air makes his sweaty skin feel cold, a stark comparison to the burning sensation in his lungs as he overworked them. He feels like he’s being stabbed in his abdomen and it _hurts._

The treadmill begins to slow to a stop, and Trevor nearly starts crying in relief. He lets his legs give out under him, falling onto the tread and just laying there. He closes his eyes and breathes, which is about all he can manage to do at the moment.

Trevor doesn’t know how long he’s been lying on the ground when someone peels the electrodes off of him, but it’s not nearly long enough for the pain from running to stop.

“Sit up.” Jess says, making Trevor open his eyes. She bent down to Trevor’s level, holding out a clear plastic cup of water. Trevor sits up, eagerly taking the cup and drinking all of the water. “We’re going to get you showered.” Jess informs, standing up.

Trevor doesn’t respond, he just stands up, using the treadmill to help him up, and follows Jess out of the room. The two are silent as they walk down the spotless white and linoleum halls, side by side. Jess leads Trevor to Processing, were two guards stood posted outside the door. “Why is A-008 going through Processing again?” One of the guards ask when they get close enough, eyeing Trevor up.

“He needs a shower and a change of clothes.” Jess says.

“Regulations say-”

“He had a cardio test, Jackson, let him shower.” Jess interrupts, sounding exasperated as she slides a keycard and opens the door to Processing.

“Would you like us to come in?” The other guard asks.

“I can handle A-008, it’s my job to do so.” She replied, looking to Trevor. 

Trevor follows Jess into the room, waiting for the click of magnetic door lock behind him to start talking. “I thought I was supposed to keep running. Why did it stop so quickly?”

“Because the head researcher was overseeing it.” Jess answers. “We had all the data, but he didn’t want you to stop, I managed to convince him otherwise.”

“Why?” Trevor asks. Jess doesn’t respond, digging through a supply cabinet. “Why?” Trevor repeats.

“Go shower.” Jess orders, throwing a bar of soap to Trevor.

“Why are you helping me?” Trevor asks once again, insistent.

Jess voice goes quiet. “Because I was forced to be a researcher on this experiment, and I don’t agree with kidnapping people in the name of science.” She clears her throat. “You have seven minutes to shower. Make it count.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don’t expect regular posting to be a common thing, I’m just putting off my writing prompt journal.


	9. Experiments

_**Ramsey:** The experiments were… they just… fuck._

_**Interviewer:** You don’t have to say anything if you don’t want to._

_**Ramsey:** They did really fucked up things to us. They made us play favorites,_

* * *

“Happy birthday, A-005.” A scientist greeted Gavin.

“Go to bloody hell.” Gavin spat, sitting crossly in the chair he was forced into.

“That’s not very polite now, is it?”

“Says the bloke involved with kidnapping me.”

“Touche.” The scientist says. “But c’mon, it’s your birthday, it’s a day to celebrate.” The scientist places a plastic container of four cupcakes on the table. They’re from a store, and the tape on the container is still intact.

“What’s the catch?” Gavin asks, eyeing the scientist with suspicion.

“There’s no catch.”

“There’s always a catch with you psychos.”

“There’s no catch.” He repeats. “You are going to have cupcakes with your friends on your birthday.”

“There’s only four cupcakes.” Gavin points out, realization hitting him a few seconds later. “What’s going to happen to the others?”

“They won’t have cupcakes.” The scientist responds. “A-005, who’s invited to your birthday party?”

“You’re all mad; I’m not going to choose anyone.”

“I don’t think you would want to do that.” The scientist says. “Partying alone is never any fun, and besides, insubordination will be punished.”

“Do it.”

“You won’t be the one punished, A-005.”

Gavin’s cockiness dissipates as he pales, looking down at the cupcakes.

* * *

_**Ramsey:** they separated us, they made us turn on each other,_

* * *

“This is a different room.” Ryan says when the elevator doors opened to the bunk room.

“Looks the same to me.” Jeremy’s reply is obviously flippant, entering the room.

“Well, it isn’t.” Ryan snaps.

“How can you even tell?

“When was the last time anyone except for Jack made their bed?”

“You think that they wouldn’t come in and clean the bunks? They put fucking shock collars on us and making beds is where you think they draw the line.”

“They haven’t done it before.”

“Which means they can’t do it ever?”

“I don’t need your shit right now.”

“That’s fantastic, because I don’t want _your_ shit either!”

* * *

_**Ramsey:** hell, it felt like their goal was to see who would kill us first, us or them, and to be honest, there were points where I didn’t know what the answer was going to be._


	10. // Author Update 1.0 //

Hey everyone, it's me, The_Problematic_Blender. Sorry for the false update, but keep reading.

You see, I've been thinking about retconing and editing the fic. There's multiple parts I didn't entirely think through when making it, as well as large parts of my inspiration drawing from something that hasn't happened in this timeline yet, so I'm debating about just editing the chapters that are already up and making minor changes.

The largest change would probably be swapping Mica out for Alfredo, as Mica doesn't work in AH anymore, and I can't write her for shit, which you can tell from her one whole sentence spoken for this entire fic.

Would people like that? I'd be able to flesh out characters and scenes more, I'd make a jab at an AH video here and there, and I wouldn't have to worry about consistency as much. Please comment down below.

Also, here is your chance for giving me some feedback! I want to know how you guys are liking it, if you want me to focus on a certain type of style more (interview/file/moment), if you have any ideas you'd like to see me incorporate, if you have any questions about things in Project 279 (ex: "what did AH eat?"), all that jazz.

Every comment is valued and appreciated, no question is too dumb. This is your specific chance to make this fic better. Please take advantage of it, I'm begging you. I'm running out of ideas here.

\- tpb

**Author's Note:**

> Kudos and comment to make sure I continue to make this, and subscribe to stay up to date!


End file.
